1941

Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

1960

Studied mathematics, physics and art at the University of Wisconsin (Madison).

1964

Studied art at the University of California, Davis. Studied with William T. Wiley and Robert Arneson.

1964-1966

Abandoned painting. Became interested in sculpture, performance and film.

Published Pictures of a Sculpture in a Room.

Collaborated on film projects with Robert Nelson and William Allan (1965-66).

1966

Graduated in art at the University of California.

Taught at the Art Institute of San Francisco.

Collaborated with W.T. Wiley.

First solo exhibition at the Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los Angeles.

Eccentric Abstraction, first group exhibition at the Fischbach Gallery, New York.

1968

Met the choreographer Meredith Monk and the composer Steve Reich.

Discovered the work of John Cage, Merce Cunnigham and Karlheinz Stockhausen.

First solo exhibition at the Leo Castelli Gallery, New York.

Travelled in Europe, where he had his first solo exhibition at the Galerie Konrad Fischer, Dusseldorf.

1969

Performance with Judy Nauman and Meredith Monk at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, part of the exhibition Anti-Illusion : procedures / Materials.

1970

Invited by Jasper Johns to conceive the work Tread, presented by the Merce Cunnigham Dance Company.

Taught at the University of California (Irvine).

At Santa Barbara, he participated with Richard Serra in a performance conceived by Meredith Monk.

1972

Bruce Nauman : Work from 1965 to 1972, first solo exhibition in a museum, co-organised by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.

1989

He moved to Galisteo (New Mexico) where he trained horses.

1993-1995

Touring retrospective organised by the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, in association with the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C. ; travelled to the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Museo
Nacional Centro Reina Sofia, Madrid, and the Kunsthaus, Zurich.

Exhibition accompanied by a catalogue raisonné.